


Center of Attention

by lita



Series: The Adventures of Stephen Strange and His Super Awesome Cloak of Levitation [44]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Australia, BAMF Stephen Strange, BAMF Women, Cloak of Levitation (Marvel), F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Humor, Humorous Ending, Hurt Stephen Strange, Hurt/Comfort, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, POV Female Character, POV Third Person, Protective Team, Self-Sacrifice, Stephen Strange & Wong Friendship, Stephen Strange is a Good Bro, Stream of Consciousness, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, Wong is a Good Bro (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25825999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lita/pseuds/lita
Summary: Stephen had always been the center of attention whether he wanted or not.In the past, Stephen always commanded attention whenever he entered a room. He was a total drama queen.She knew that Stephen didn’t really want the attention right now especially with his current non-paying job in not-a-cult.Whether he wanted the attention or not, he still got it anyway. A bit too much if she must say.She did her part and pepper-sprayed the demon that looked like a puppy but with three-yellow-eyes, two-horns, and sulfuric-breath. The demon just closed his or her (it was hard to tell the gender of a demon) three eyes, sneezed, shook his or her head, and kept charging at Stephen. She might as well be invisible for all the demon cared! She should be offended but she told her feeling to shut up—this was not the kind of attention anyone sane wanted anyway.
Relationships: Christine Palmer & Stephen Strange, Christine Palmer/Stephen Strange, Stephen Strange & Wong
Series: The Adventures of Stephen Strange and His Super Awesome Cloak of Levitation [44]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/582364
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	Center of Attention

**Author's Note:**

> -Not a native speaker, unbetaed so please kindly point out any mistakes

Christine sighed. She knew Stephen had always been the center of attention either by design or by accident but this was ridiculous.

In the past, Stephen always commanded attention whenever he entered a room. He was a total drama queen (although he would vehemently deny it and say it was merely her imagination). He strolled in just in time before a party started and walked in with his head held high, his body erect donning his expensively tailored tuxedo and a ridiculously priced watch. (She would never understand his obsession with watches and cars but at least he spent his money on luxury items rather than some less health recreational activities. They both knew better.) Every head in the party would turn to look at him, Stephen would nod to his left then to his right before holding his head high again and letting the crowd parted for him like the Red Sea to Moses. She felt hyper-conscious whenever this happened, like an extra that walked into a main frame of a movie scene that had been rolling for a while, awkward but too late to retract. That was ridiculous because she had as much as right as Stephen to be in the party—both of their names were in the American Journal of Medicine. That was one of the reasons she hated going to parties with him.

She knew that Stephen didn’t really want the attention right now especially with his current non-paying job in not-a-cult. That was the reason he suggested a picnic in a small park: The Treasury Gardens in East Melbourne, Australia. Well, that was one of the very few perks of being a friend to adult Harry Potter—she knew he hated the term hence she kept using it—she could travel to places without going through the hassle of long queue, airplanes, airports, and custom.

Whether he wanted the attention or not, he still got it anyway. A bit too much if she must say.

She did her part and pepper-sprayed the demon that looked like a puppy but with three-yellow-eyes, two-horns, and sulfuric-breath. The demon just closed his or her (it was hard to tell the gender of a demon) three eyes, sneezed, shook his or her head, and kept charging at Stephen. She might as well be invisible for all the demon cared! She should be offended but she told her feeling to shut up—this was not the kind of attention anyone sane wanted anyway.

Stephen looked at her direction, saw what she did to the demon, and immediately misunderstood.

He did some intricate hand movements and sent a pulse of blue energy toward her direction. As soon the energy appeared seven feet in front of her, it formed a literal circular protective barrier protecting her. The demons needed to fly/walk/run around the perimeter to get the Stephen. She was extra safe.

Not so much with Stephen. He paid the price for his inattention as two of the smaller demons managed to bite his left ankle and right shoulder. He yelped in pain. The Cloak of Levitation left the demons she was attacking, flew to wrap the demon biting his shoulder, levitated it/his/her, and used it/his/her to beat the other demon who bit his ankle.

She sighed again. Stephen should have known that she was perfectly safe. Those demons only had their eye on Stephen. To be fair to him, he didn’t know that. Typical. He used to demand attention, now he didn’t want any but still got it anyway. She gritted her teeth. Now she needed to disinfect his wounds. Not sure if they had the kind of medicine for demons’ bite. Medicine and demon should not even be in the same sentence. She blew another breath. That was her life now since Stephen stumbled into the hospital in his cultish garb six years ago.

She really could not blame him. None of these was Stephen’s fault. It was her who suggested that they should go to picnic somewhere quiet. They had not done any proper catch up for a while. They also both needed a break, even more so with Stephen. The dark circles under his eyes had gone much darker and the last time they had a quick coffee chat, Stephen actually fell asleep. She let him sleep while she caught up on her reading but some giggling teenagers woke him up. The Cloak was about to strangle those girls but Stephen was quick in stopping her by pretending to take off his jacket which was the Cloak in disguise. Even after interacting with not-a-cult-leader Stephen for a few years, she got used to so many strange (pun intended) happenings. She had a list. A Cloak that could disguise herself was up there in the top three.

Stephen seemed to be the center of the attention of more than two hundred demons forming a circle around him. Some in the form of the afore-mentioned dogs, deformed koalas and pandas (really?) but with breath of flames, birds, lizards, monkeys, and humanoids (loosely speaking of course). When the sorcerer opened some portals to threw them away, some more would appear out of the woodwork. (If she did not know any better, she would have thought that Australia was the center for demons. She knew it was because those demons came from other dimensions. She should not know such a thing but she did. She was undecided whether this was one of the perks or the hazards of being a friend with Stephen.) It was as if those demons were competing to get the main prize—killing Stephen. She suspected it was not far off the mark. Typical. Stephen must have pissed off some demon honchos or something and they would give a reward to anyone who managed to kill or maim him. She wondered what Stephen had done to deserve such kind of attention. She wondered if she could get a straight answer out of him this time. He tended to give cryptic answers (and she thought it was bad during his surgeon day but being wizard apparently amplified his need for being mysterious) or more often than not, run away to face another crisis.

How could there be more demons now then than seven seconds ago? So far Stephen was able to fend them off and kept sending them to other dimensions. (She admitted that he upheld the no-unnecessary killing very meticulously. She was both proud of him, killing was easy but finding non-lethal ways were super hard, and worried for him.) So far, the only injuries he sustained were those two bites he got when he tried to protect her. She started to worry about infection again. Stephen also looked more and more frazzled. His blue dress shirt which was her favorite was shredded. There were more holes in his clothes than material. His face was full of soot and his fluffy hair was messy. His hands shook wildly. At least the Cloak was still intact and did very good job throwing off or killing demons whenever Stephen was not looking.

It was literally raining demons. At this rate, Stephen would tire himself out and would not last more than ten minutes.

She heard some chattering, turned her head, and saw some people walked into the garden. It seemed Stephen heard them too because when she turned to look at Stephen, he and the demons disappeared. It was as if they were never here in the first place. It looked like they moved to another dimension.

Something clicked in her mind. Stephen and Wong often mentioned about the Mirror or Glass Dimension or something. Some dimension where they could fight where nobody could see to protect muggles. It was typical for the new Stephen to always think of others’ safety but not his own.

If they were here, they would groan at the Harry Potter reference. The problem was they were not here.

She sighed again. It was time to call in the big gun.

She texted “Number 2. Treasury Garden, Melbourne, Australia.” and clicked send. There was another Melbourne in Québec, Canada, hence the need to clarify. She learned it the hard way.

Thirty-seven seconds later (she counted), a fiery circle appeared right in front of her. Wong stepped out of the portal and saw the gasping crowd. He incanted some spells then directed some purple lights to those onlookers. As soon as they got hit by the light, they turned their back and walked toward the exit. (So that was how the public never knew the existence of sorcerers. They could modify people’s memory. It was both creepy and effective.)

Wong did some more intricate hand movements so some yellow light emanated from his body.

Two seconds later, she could see Stephen and the demons. Stephen and Wong must have worked out some signals to show that help was on the way so they could come out of the Glass Dimension. 

It was not unlike the code that she and Wong had developed regarding Stephen as the idiot got injured every other week. Code 1 was life and death, well, mostly near death for Stephen. If Wong sent it to her it meant Stephen needed medical emergency, the other way meant magical emergency. It was not surprising that usually Stephen needed help on both fronts. Code 2 was emergency, not life and death yet, but please be hurry before it became code 1. Code 3 was Stephen was being a total idiot in social setting so please save me from embarrassment. This was never used because Stephen refused to go to party nowadays—a total opposite from his past self. It was added just in case.

Most of the demons were bound by red string of lights. There were less than fifty left. Without worrying for the safety of onlookers, Stephen could focus more on dealing with the demons.

Wong said, “You go left, I go right.”

Stephen nodded and opened a portal to his left while Wong opened a portal to Stephen’s right. (It was good that they worked out whose left and whose right otherwise it would be awkward and dangerous.) They send all the free and bound demons through the portals and quickly sealed them.

Stephen limped toward them. “I’ve got it. I don’t need any help.”

“You’re welcome.” Wong replied without missing a beat.

“Said the guy who was bleeding from his shoulder and ankle.” She was full on doctoring mode as she went to check on his injuries. Those wounds had turned pinkish green. Of course they were, they were caused by demons, not rabid racoons.

“I’m fine. I don’t need either of your help. I can disinfect them myself.” It would have been convincing if he didn’t wince as soon as he finished his sentence.

“I know you can but will it kill you to accept any help.”

Wong snickered which was disturbing because it was so un-Wong. “Come on, we don’t have all days. If you hurry, we could still get Lemon Brulee Tart and Canolli Chocolate at Brunetti before they run out.” He waved his hands and all that pinkish green puss disappeared from Stephen’s shoulder and ankle.

“Thanks. I was just about to do that myself.” The Cloak patted Stephen cheeks before settling on his shoulders. This time she didn’t even pretend to be a jacket anymore.

“Of course.” Wong turned toward the exit.

“You’re paying this time.”

“Using my Indian rupees?”

“I still don’t understand why you never carry dollars.”

“I don’t normally go to Australia. They’re usually demon free. It’s _you_ who seem to be the center of trouble.”

“You know what I meant about the currency. I didn’t invite those demons. I was just having a picnic with my gir-.. my friend who is a girl minding my own business while they came out of the woodwork literally…”

She walked up to Stephen’s left side so she wouldn’t come in the middle of their bickering. She linked her right hand to his. He linked his hand back. She could feel the faint tremor. Despite that, she felt safe and content.

She smiled as she turned to look at Stephen and Wong who had not stopped bickering. Wong was still in his sorcerer robe. Stephen dressed in a torn shirt and jeans with the Cloak flowing majestically ignoring onlookers which luckily were not many at this time. She was dressed in green sunflower dress that Stephen bought for her.

They each come from different worlds and ended up together. It was just a joke waiting to happen. A doctor, a librarian, and an idiot walked into a café. She just hoped people on Lygon Street (she had also googled good desserts in Melbourne) were as open minded as people in New York so they would not pay attention too much toward their appearance.

**Author's Note:**

> -I'm glad the The Cloak of Levitation finally got her own tags here. 
> 
> -I'm not affiliated to the Treasury Garden or Brunetti. They were mentioned merely to fit the plot of the story :)
> 
> -It seems Christine won't appear in the Multiverse of Madness which was a shame. Instead, they plan to include Clea.
> 
> -Heard about Chadwick Boseman. RIP. I hope he is in a better place now and his family has the strength to cope.


End file.
